The Past 3 Months

Now that it's been over 3 months since my last post, I figure it's about time I wrote something new. (Thanks for the motivation, Marla!) So let's see . . . what's new?

Lillian hit the 2 1/2 year-old mark on January 23 (just one day after my 27th birthday, which we'll get back to in a moment). She can't wait to be 3 years old so she can go to preschool (or "pwe-kool" as she calls it), just like her best friend Lydia. She reminds me several times a day that she's 2 years old, just in case I forgot, I guess! Then she says, "I be three on my next birthday, like E-ya (aka Lydia). I go pwe-kool like E-ya!" We saw Lydia this afternoon right before she left for her preschool. After we walked her to her car and went into our house, Lillian got really sad and she said, "I want to be three." I told her that I was happy that she was 2, it's a good age to be. As hard as the terrible two's can be on both of us, I don't want my little girl to grow up too fast. The thought of having her gone all day in preschool is enough to make me want to play kitchen set and doctor kit with her all day long just so I can enjoy the time while I have it with her. I've been debating about what to do in the fall when she'll be 3 and could go to preschool. As far as I understand, the Head Start program would be free, but they're all-day, Monday-Friday. That seems like too much for a little one who just turned 3. A friend has offered doing a shared pre-school teaching sort of thing where we would switch off every other week teaching a lesson a few times a week. That could work for the first year, I think. Then when Lilly is 4 I might be ready to ship her off to "real" preschool. I'm afraid she'll be disappointed with "home school pre-school," though. Do you see how this little 2 1/2 year old already runs my life?? :)

Over Christmas break Lillian practically potty trained herself. She now wears big girl underwear and is very proud of it. She still has the occasional accident (like peeing on the floor in nursery during church. I didn't have a change of clothes for her, so she had to go through the rest of church wearing only a shirt, a borrowed pair of underwear from a friend, and her tights that she thankfully wasn't wearing when she piddled on the floor. Aaah, that was a proud Mommy moment for me...). Anyways, I'm very proud of Lillian and the progress she's made. I ask her a lot if she has to go potty and I always emphasize that she should tell me or another adult when she has to go so she won't have an accident, so all day today she kept telling me, "Mommy, you tell me when you have to to potty, ok? Mommy, you have to go potty?" I had to keep telling her no, that I was fine! She's a fire pistol of energy, from the minute she wakes up until the second before she falls asleep at night (and she's starting to outgrow her afternoon naps, darn it!), but I love her a ton, even when I don't have the energy to keep up with her.

Sydney is my sweet little smiler. If she's not sleeping or eating, she's smiling and laughing. The biggest thing that gets her going is when Lillian jumps out and surprises her and starts laughing in front of her- that cracks her up every time! She's already 5 1/2 months old, and she's growing so fast! She's developed so much in just the past few weeks- grabbing her toes and putting them in her mouth, reaching for everything, rolling over (and over and over), responding to her name and other voices, and she's even started eating some fruits! She had a well visit a few weeks ago, and she weighed in at 12 lbs, 9 oz and was 23.5 inches long. That puts her in the 25th percentile, which is much bigger than Lillian was- such a relief for Mommy!

Around Christmas time, Sydney and I started having trouble with breastfeeding. She didn't seem to be satisfied during or after most feedings and she was fussier than normal during the day. By January I was supplementing with formula to make up for what I couldn't provide. I tried everything I could to increase my supply- I chugged fennel tea, drank tons of water, took more naps, pumped after every feeding, and tried to be less stressed (hah, like that ever works!). Luckily, we were staying with family, so they were able to help me. But when we returned home to our normal routine at the end of the month, I couldn't hold on any more. Sydney wasn't happy and neither was I because each feeding was so stressful. I cried the night that I realized I couldn't breastfeed any more, but after the next day of going formula-only (with a few scant ounces that I was able to pump), Sydney was so much happier, and what a relief that was! We're both feeling much better about the whole thing, and I feel like I've bonded with her more than ever over the past few weeks. I love how her eyes crinkle in the corners when she smiles- just like her Daddy!

Enough about the kids- what about us adults? We spent half of December and all of January bouncing between my parents' and Bobby's parents' houses while Bobby completed a pediatric rotation at Kent General Hospital. It was great to spend so much time with family and to watch Lillian and Sydney play with cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents. I feel so fortunate to live close to both our families. I have so many friends who live half a country away from their families, and I don't think I realize how difficult that is. We were busy while we were gone! We celebrated Christmas, New Years, 3 birthdays (including mine), and we fought several rounds of illness- Lillian got pneumonia and spent the night in the ER a few days before Christmas, then a couple weeks later she got the stomach virus that was going around and threw up for 24 hours. Bobby and I got some sort of stomach bug that lasted a couple days, but we weren't throwing up like everyone else. After two more random days of running a fever, Lillian seemed to finally be done with being sick. But not me! At the end of the month I got the worst sinus cold I've ever had. I think my face would have exploded if it weren't for the OMM that Bobby did (the best thing ever!!) Thankfully, Sydney avoided most of the sick germs through it all.

Anyways, about my birthday- it was great! I have to admit that 27 seems a little old (the odd years always do, for some reason- I don't know why). The day before, my dad took me and Sydney on a walk at the nearby Arboretum. It was a little chilly, but very refreshing to be outside. We bundled Sydney up so her eyes were barely showing, but when she fell asleep we covered those, too! Then we spent about an hour in the local coffee shop talking about Haiti, church, life, and other stuff. Sydney slept snuggly in her car seat on the table during it all. We stayed past closing time and had to have the door unlocked so we could leave! While we were gone, Lillian and Grandma were busy baking my birthday cake and decorating the house with pink and yellow streamers and balloons. Lillian was so excited about the balloons in my bedroom and about eating my cake! She kept telling me that my birthday was on Friday when we could eat my cake! On my birthday, my mom spoiled me. She let me go out by myself to get my hair cut, then she watched both girls so I could work on a quilt (the one I've been trying to finish for almost a year now)! That night we had cake and ice cream for dinner so we could celebrate with Lillian (she helped me blow out all my candles!) then we left with friends to go out for a real dinner. It was a fun day!

Bobby just finished his February rotation in ob/gyn at Lankenau Hospital. He was surprised at how much surgery there was and he had some interesting experiences. Next week he starts psychiatry at an inner-city hospital, which should also be interesting! I've vamped up my efforts to lose a few pounds and firm up my loose just-had-a-baby muscles. :) I'm trying to make it to the YMCA 3 days a week for pilates and kickboxing, in addition to crunches at home and cutting down on snacking and eating late at night. We'll see how it works!

I know I've been rambling on forever now, about stuff that no one probably cares about, so thanks for sticking it out to the end! Phew! I shouldn't let so much time go by again...it takes a lot to catch up!